The Steelers have to 20th pick in Round Two. Being on a separate day, this allows us to take a breath and recalibrate the board. Maurkice Pouncey was a great pick yesterday. Many wanted the cornerback, but I agree with Blitz. Why are we taking guys like Kennan Lewis and Joe Burnett if they don't get a chance? We can't keep chasing our tail and drafting guys to replace guys we just drafted. The team would never improve. On the continuum of "Need vs. BPA," we all fall on that line in scattered places. We've had this debate many times.

My own philosophy is that you take need as long as you do not sacrifice quality. That is exactly what the Steelers did yesterday. The offensive line had been the unit most neglected by top draft choices in the recent decade, and it showed. Pouncey is a need who happens to be very high quality. Scouts Inc. gives him a 93 grading. Whether you put stock in their system or not, they know a helluva lot more than I, so I respect their system until proven otherwise. When the Steelers picked 18th, the only grade higher on the board was a 94, so in my book, grab the 93 center.

The key, of course, is to have a very good batting average on these round 2-3 guys. As great as Kevin Colbert has been with first round gems, I am not so sure about his batting average on rounds 2-3. Another thing to keep in mind: Art Rooney made a comment many months ago that will soon come into play. He said that the Steelers must do a better job of getting their young guys into the game sooner. That was music to my ears. I always wondered why all these guys on other teams got thrown into the fire quickly, while Pittsburgh players needed two and three years of apprenticeship, but I digress. To the point, Rooney's statement increases the urgency of the 2-3 guys being quality, ready-quality.

Back to the future, today is a critical day for the Steelers to land two players who will have impact in the not-so-distant future, not taxi guys we are still calling young three years from now. Here are the top 25 players on the board. This will cover our second-round pick. What are your thoughts?
Quarterback (will eat up two of the 19 spots in front of us)

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame (some, like Mel Kiper, considered him the best)

Colt McCoy (I think our friends in Cleveland will get him)
Running Back

The Steelers have to 20th pick in Round Two. Being on a separate day, this allows us to take a breath and recalibrate the board. Maurkice Pouncey was a great pick yesterday. Many wanted the cornerback, but I agree with Blitz. Why are we taking guys like Kennan Lewis and Joe Burnett if they don't get a chance? We can't keep chasing our tail and drafting guys to replace guys we just drafted. The team would never improve. On the continuum of "Need vs. BPA," we all fall on that line in scattered places. We've had this debate many times.

My own philosophy is that you take need as long as you do not sacrifice quality. That is exactly what the Steelers did yesterday. The offensive line had been the unit most neglected by top draft choices in the recent decade, and it showed. Pouncey is a need who happens to be very high quality. Scouts Inc. gives him a 93 grading. Whether you put stock in their system or not, they know a helluva lot more than I, so I respect their system until proven otherwise. When the Steelers picked 18th, the only grade higher on the board was a 94, so in my book, grab the 93 center.

The key, of course, is to have a very good batting average on these round 2-3 guys. As great as Kevin Colbert has been with first round gems, I am not so sure about his batting average on rounds 2-3. Another thing to keep in mind: Art Rooney made a comment many months ago that will soon come into play. He said that the Steelers must do a better job of getting their young guys into the game sooner. That was music to my ears. I always wondered why all these guys on other teams got thrown into the fire quickly, while Pittsburgh players needed two and three years of apprenticeship, but I digress. To the point, Rooney's statement increases the urgency of the 2-3 guys being quality, ready-quality.

Back to the future, today is a critical day for the Steelers to land two players who will have impact in the not-so-distant future, not taxi guys we are still calling young three years from now. Here are the top 25 players on the board. This will cover our second-round pick. What are your thoughts?
Quarterback (will eat up two of the 19 spots in front of us)

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame (some, like Mel Kiper, considered him the best)

Colt McCoy (I think our friends in Cleveland will get him)
Running Back

I say use our regular pick on Gerhardt or a LB. Then trade some of our 100 garbage picks who there's no room for on the roster to get another second-rounder, and use that on Terrance Cody.

Yeah, I know we'd be taking a chance on the big fatso. But the way I see it, Cody gives us a 50-50 chance of solving our NT issue for the long term, and if not, oh well - most of those late-rounders were going to go to waste anyway because we had no space for them.

I do not think we'll take a WR or a DB, because our roster is overflowing with them already. Granted, not overflowing with outstanding WRs and DBs, but we have enough that we'd either have to cut someone decent or cut someone we still like as a prospect. Only way I see this happening is if someone awesome (like Tate) falls within reach and we work out a deal to trade one of the existing WRs on our roster, either now or soon. Otherwise we just have too many.